Time's Orphan
' |image= |series= |production=40510-548 |producer(s)= |story= Joe Menosky |script= Bradley Thompson and David Weddle |director= Allan Kroeker |imdbref=tt0708652 |guests=Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien, Hana Hatae as Molly O'Brien, Michelle Krusiec as 18-year-old Molly |previous_production=Profit and Lace |next_production=The Sound of Her Voice |episode=DS9 S06E24 |airdate=20 May 1998 |previous_release=(DS9) Profit and Lace (Overall) Hope and Fear |next_release=The Sound of Her Voice |story_date(s)=Unknown |group="N"}} (2374/late-21st century) |previous_story=One |next_story=Hope and Fear }} Summary O'Brien is reunited with his wife, Keiko, and their two children. But during a celebratory picnic on a nearby planet, eight-year-old Molly falls into a vortex of swirling energy. When the rest of the crew arrives to help, they determine Molly slipped through a time portal that sent her back 300 years, to a time when the planet was uninhabited. They reactivate the portal and transport her out, but their calculations are off by a decade. When Molly materializes on the transporter pad, she is an 18-year-old woman. Since she has been without human contact for ten years, Molly is like a wild animal, terrified of her parents and unable to speak. At Bashir's suggestion, a cargo bay is transformed with a tree, grass, and some boulders. There, the O'Briens begin the painful process of regaining their daughter's trust. When Keiko presents her with her favorite doll, Molly smiles for the first time. Molly continues to make progress and learns to follow simple commands. She soon utters her first word — "Home" — and Keiko and O'Brien excitedly take her back to their quarters. When she shows them a photo taken at the picnic site, they realize Molly regards that planet as her home. Desperate to make his daughter happy, O'Brien recreates the spot in a holosuite. The plan works until the O'Briens must relinquish the suite to other customers. Scared by the hubbub of Quark's bar, Molly panics and stabs a customer with a broken bottle. Sisko and Odo sadly inform O'Brien that Federation officials want Molly committed to a special care center. Knowing that forcing her to stay inside a confined facility over a long period of time will kill her, O'Brien plans to steal a runabout and take Molly to her planet. Once there, he will send her back through the time portal so no one will be able to find her. Although they will never see her again, O'Brien and Keiko know this is their only chance to save their daughter. However, they are caught before they can leave the station. Odo comes to the scene and allows the O'Briens to proceed. They return to the planet, where they tearfully send Molly back through the vortex with her favorite doll. When Molly arrives, she recognizes her eight-year-old self hiding behind a boulder. Little Molly is frightened, but her older counterpart gives her the doll and sends her through the portal to be reunited with her family. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # Corey Hines on Monday, December 21, 1998 - 12:43 pm: At the end of the episode we saw adult Molly disappear when little Molly went through the portal. She ceased to exist. Since there was no adult Molly, there was no way for them to transport her from time at the beginning of the episode. Therefore, there was no reason to open the portal to where little Molly was at the end of the episode. In short, there was no way that little Molly could have made it back to her present time, and there should have been a major paradox. ' Not necessarily - The portal could have been adjusted to rectify that.' # Ed Jefferson (Ejefferson) on Friday, January 22, 1999 - 11:39 am:''I think it was dumb they tried to use the alien device to retrieve her. This is technology they've had a few hours to examine. Starfleet knows dozens of ways to travel in time. 1. The easiest. Get the Bajoran Orb of Time, and since Kira knows how to work it pretty well. 2. The 'run the Defiant's cloak for a while and beam through it' method. 3. The tried and trusted slingshot! '''1) The Orb is most likely kept under guard, and it may not be possible to remove it from Bajor. 2) Beaming through the cloak could result in anyone trying it shifting in and out of phase (see The Next Phase). 3) The slingshot is a very complicated method, and not precise enough.' # Keith Alan Morgan on Sunday, May 02, 1999 - 8:07 am: So why didn't anyone know this time portal was here, before Molly fell in? Uncle Dick on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 2:43 am: I got the impression that the O'Briens were picnicking in a remote area of the planet whose colony had only recently been established. Also, the cave entrance was rather narrow. It's possible that survey teams never explored it. # Anonymous on Monday, July 30, 2001 - 8:13 am: Since when has Odo allowed weapons on the Promenade? (I refer to him directing his subordinate to stun Molly with a phaser during the scene in Quark's bar). Dave on Monday, July 30, 2001 - 1:58 pm: Odo and his deputies are the police force on the promenade. Their primary duty is to keep the promenade safe. Sometimes it is necessary to use a weapon to subdue a violent individual to prevent them from hurting other citizens. It's no different that cities that have banned it's citizens from owning and/or carrying guns, but still allow law enforcement officers to carry them. Or maybe Odo reversed this law because it's wartime. Lolar Windrunner on Monday, July 30, 2001 - 4:58 pm: I thought that Odo had to issue weapons (maybe locked on stun) when Starfleet took command. Some sort of treaty or regulations thing. Notes Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine